Baseball

Santa Clara Sweeps Utah Valley In Season Opener

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team opened the 2008 season with back-to-back wins against Utah Valley on Friday at Stephen Schott Stadium.

Weather permitting, the Broncos (2-0) will play another doubleheader on Saturday against the Wildcats of Kansas State. First pitch is scheduled for Noon at Schott Stadium

Sophomore Nate Garcia earned the first win of the day for SCU as the Broncos stormed to a 12-1 finish. Garcia struckout seven batters in 7.2 innings pitched. Daniel DeMarco and Thain Simon, who got his first taste of collegiate action, finished the pitching duties for Santa Clara. Evan LeBlanc knocked out a three-run home run in the latter half of the game to continue to distance the Broncos from the Wolverines. Brady Fuerst tallied three runs, while Tommy Medica and LeBlanc had two runs apiece.

The Broncos picked up right where they left off in the start of the second game, quickly making the score 2-0. The next five innings saw no changes to the score, as sophomore Steve Kalush pitched a no-hitter for the first six innings. Kalush registered 13 strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.

Yet, the Wolverines tied things up in the top of the seventh inning as both Ryan Jones and Jace Brinkerhoff scored for Utah Valley.

The Broncos responded with a five run effort in the bottom of the eighth inning to take back control of the scoreboard and post win number two. Alex Rivers, who finished out the second game for the Broncos, was awarded his first win of the season.